The present invention relates an improved creel adaptor for use in retaining a tube containing formed glass fiber during the twist process in the manufacture of glass fiber textile products. The improved creel adaptor of the present invention is designed to be positioned on a twist frame and accept the forming tubes received from the glass fiber forming operation. The creel adaptors rotate during the fiber twist operation, to transfer and twist the glass fiber onto a rotating bobbin. A recurring problem in the twist operation is presented wherein the forming tubes tend to walk or slide off of the creel adaptor while the adaptor rotates, causing strand misalignment and interference in personnel and machinery movement between adjacent twist frames.
It is not unusual for 10% or more of the forming tubes run on an individual twist frame to extend from 3 to 5 inches beyond the front of the creel adaptor during the twist operation. Such walking creates undersirable inefficiencies in the twist process due to the ends of the tube breaking out. Also, walking tubes tend to create a misalignment of the strand between the forming tube and the bobbin. This causes poor processing and product quality problems. Further, common twist operations include a plurality of twist frames placed back to back in spaced relationship with narrow aisles between the frames. There are narrow aisles between the fronts of the twist frames to allow for operator passage. When the forming tubes shift or walk on the creel adaptors into the aisle, the movement of people and/or machinery between the frames is undesirably restricted.
Past attempts to correct these problems have focused on geometrically coordinating the outside diameter of the adaptor with the inside diameter of the tube within close tolerances to provide a proper fit and help prevent walking. These attempts have met with limited success due to the inability to properly and continuously match the correct diameter to maintain a close fit. Since the forming tubes weight 20-30 pounds and must be elevated by the operator to a level of five or six feet for loading on a twist frame, a close fitting adaptor/tube tolerance creates difficulty for the operators. Applicants' invention overcomes these loading/unloading difficulties and prevents walking of the forming tube on the creel adaptor during the twist operation.